Community Sports

Isabella Bouma, 14, of Bakersfield hunted this three-year-old mountain lion on May 5 in Holden, Utah. Bouma's father, Peter, wrote that it was a "one-shot kill" and described Isabella as "one proud girl."

click to expandclick to collapse

2 of 3

Olivia Pickering, 7, of Bakersfield, caught and released this 1-pound whiting from the beach in Palm Island, Fla., recently, with her dad Jeff.

click to expandclick to collapse

3 of 3

Colin Pickering, 9, of Bakersfield, caught and released this 1-pound sea trout off Palm Island, Fla., recently, while fishing with his grandfather Bob Pickering.

click to expandclick to collapse

By The Bakersfield Californian

Kern County, southern San Joaquin Valley

LAKE ISABELLA: Very good for catfish and largemouth bass action and some huge bass are showing. Calvin Walker, Bakersfield, had bass at 17 and 13 pounds this past week on Senkos. Doug McKinney, Bakersfield, land a 7-pounder, while Kristin McKinney, Bakersfield, had a 5-4, both on Brush Hawgs. Top catfish reported was a 12-pounder on a nightcrawler. The catfish are showing on shad, clams, and nightcrawlers and there are a lot of fish to 6 pounds, while the bass are best on crankbaits and Senkos with a lot of quality fish over five pounds reported. The trout bite is also pretty good with some limits reported in deeper water in the vicinity around the auxiliary dam. The bluegill bite is also good to excellent on wax worms and meal worms. Crappie fair.

Share

KERN RIVER: Very low flows in both the upper and lower river. In spite of this, the fishing remains good in the upper river with some quality holdover trout. The upper river trout bite is excellent for fly anglers fishing the wild trout stretch, mostly stonefly and caddis nymphs, but also some very good dry fly action most days. Bass are starting to show in the lower river with the warm weather.

AQUEDUCT NEAR TAFT: Striper action fair to good, but the aqueduct is starting to moss up, making fishing more difficult. More striper above the 18-inch minimum size are showing, but fewer fish overall. The catfish bite is fair to good. A lot of fish over 10 pounds, especially in the Lost Hills area.

MILL CREEK PARK: Good bite on bluegill. A few bass showing.

RIVER WALK PARK LAKE: The bluegill bite is probably the best bet on wax worms and meal worms. Carp are also showing on dough baits and Powder Bait. The bass are fair.

HART PARK LAKE: The bluegill bite is good to excellent. The bass action is fair.

TRUXTUN LAKE: Bluegill action good to excellent. The carp are good on dough baits. Bass fair on nightcrawlers, plastics.

MING LAKE: Bluegill, carp good to excellent. Bass have also been pretty good on plastics, Senkos, Brush Hawgs, and minnows.

BUENA VISTA LAKES: Excellent bluegill action with some fish to a pound. Good bite on 12- to 13-inch catfish.

WOOLLOMES LAKE: Good action on bluegill with a few bass being caught. Also some carp being landed.

SUCCESS LAKE: Very good bluegill action and nice stringers of fish showing up along most shoreline areas with some structure. The bass bite has also remained good on plastics and reaction baits. Lots of 1- to 2-pound fish and bass to 6 pounds.

KAWEAH LAKE: The bluegill action is good to excellent, and the catfish bite has been fair to good. Bass bite has been fair. Other species very slow.

Other regional lakes

CACHUMA: Fair trout bite. Several limits of fish to five pounds reported. The largemouth and smallmouth bites have been good. The crappie bite died over the holiday weekend, but the catfish bite has made up for it.

CASITAS: Good bass bite. The trout action has been fair. The redear bite is fair and improving.

CASTAIC: Striper bite has been good. The largemouth bite has also been pretty good early in the day. Quite a few catfish are also showing.

LOPEZ: Bass bite is good. The bluegill bite has been good around the docks and in most coves. The catfish and bluegill bites have also turned on.

NACIMIENTO: Fair to good white bass action for trollers working the main body of the lake. For the spotted bass, the largemouths and smallmouth, plastics have been the best bet. More and more catfish and bluegill showing.

PIRU: Largemouth bass bite has been very good. The average fish is from 1-2 pounds, and bass to 7 pounds have been reported.

PYRAMID: The striper bite has been fair to good. Catfish averaging 8-10 pounds in this same bite. The largemouth and smallmouth bites are also pretty good with the best action early and late in the day.

SAN ANTONIO: The black bass bite has been good.. Catfish are good on cut baits, nightcrawlers.

BRIDGEPORT REGION: Bridgeport Reservoir has been excellent for trollers and dam anglers fishing lures or bait. Lots of fish to 4 pounds. Kirman Lake produced some very nice trout this past week. Twin Lakes remain good for rainbows to 3 pounds. Virginia Lakes good to excellent.

JUNE LAKE LOOP-LEE VINING REGION: All of the lakes in the loop were stocked by the DFW again this week and providing very good action on the planted and holdover rainbows.

MAMMOTH AREA: Crowley Lake had very low water levels but excellent fishing with limits still common. Wind has been a problem, however. Lots of fish up into the four-pound class. There is also already a good Sacramento perch bite. Hilton Bay and Sandy Point are the top spots for trout, but McGee Bay is also good. Convict Lake has been good and a big derby is planted for this weekend with $2,000 in cash and prizes. The Twin Lakes and Lake Mary are fair to good on holdover rainbows and brookies. Hot Creek was very good. Rock Creek Lake is fair to good with some limits.

BISHOP AND BIG PINE AREA: In the Bishop Creek drainage, Intake II, Sabrina Lake, North Lake, and most of South Lake have been good, in spite of low flows and water levels. Sabrina still has been fair to good for bait anglers with a lot of limits posted, but the lure crowd is getting fewer fish except early and late in the day. The Owens Gorge is pretty good on small browns but it has flushing flows this week and it's tough to fish.

LONE PINE TO INDEPENDENCE AREA: All the small streams along Highway 395 in the Eastern Sierra were planted this week.

YELLOWTAIL SIZZLING: It's August fishing in early June. There's a mass of yellowtail from the Channel Islands south for 300 plus miles in a 40 to 60 mile swath along the coast. They range from coastal kelp, out to the local offshore islands, and offshore on floating kelp and high spots, and more continue to flood north each week. The volume of fish is stacking up in many spots and the fishing has been very good this past week. The top spots have been the Coronado Islands and San Clemente, but the fish are sticking in good numbers on kelp in the Oceanside to Dana Point region, the Horseshoe Kelp, Catalina Island, and throughout the Channel Islands.The San Diego area has a lot of fish at the Coronado Islands and inshore to the La Jolla kelp, but the biggest volume is offshore on floating kelp paddies to the south.

WHITE SEABASS IN SPAWN MODE: The white seabass are in full spawn mode all along the coast and at the offshore islands. From La Jolla into the Channel Islands, the big croaker are showing in good numbers, but especially in the Channel Islands over the past week. On Tuesday, the Coroloma out of Hook's Sportfishing in Oxnard had 14 anglers who all had fish to 45 pounds.

MONTGOMERY WARD : It's amazing how quickly rumors circulate in this age of social media and instant messaging. On Monday, rumors were flying that the old Golden State Mall on F Street was about to be turned into a homeless center run by its new owner, Canyon Hills Assembly of God.